One More
by MadBlossomingPrincess
Summary: A series of one-shots dedicated to one more... what would happen if they had one more of anything? They just want one more, but they can never get it now... and it's that knowledge that hurts them...
1. Chapter 1

MBP: I don't know what happened, but I went to bed, and this one-shot series idea would not go away from my head so I could sleep… and now it's after 3 in the morning while I type this, and I've only had four hours of sleep after doing four hours of tech work at school, cleaning my dad's car and doing other various things, so if there's a ton of mistakes, I'd appreciate someone screaming at me for them. Maybe.

Rini: She rambles when she's sleepy! Hee hee!

Kio: Um… MBP owns nothing!

MBP: The italics are flashbacks. Just letting ya know!

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><p><em><strong>One More…<strong>_

There's only one thing I can hear. It doesn't matter where I am, whether I'm surrounded by people or alone, or how many people are trying to talk to me; I can't hear anything but this one sound in my head.

Her laugh. She was always laughing when she was by me. I can still hear her laughing as she leapt out of one of many vases lining the palace corridors to wrap her body around me. Her laughter when she would think of something she found hilarious during one of our many conversations, whether it loudly rang through the courtyard, or she tried to stifle the noise because it was late at night and Mahado would kill her if he found her in my bedroom. I can hear the way she would spontaneously burst out into laughter because the world was just that great to her.

I can remember that she always laughed alone. Even in the end, she managed to find a way to laugh, and even then, she was still laughing alone.

I can still feel the way her body felt in my arms, broken and bleeding because she'd jumped in front of me to save me from Bakura's attack. The light that was such a huge part of her was slipping away right in front of me, and there was nothing I could do about it…

_"Mana… Mana, don't do this!" I whispered, trying in vain to stop the bleeding, to ease the pain in any way. She couldn't do this, her light couldn't be extinguished, she had to stay with me! _

_ In the background I could hear Bakura's maniacal laughing, and the sounds of battle. Nothing connected to my mind but the small girl dying in my arms._

_ Mana reached up with her hand and pulled on my hair, something she'd always wanted to try, saying that it was so spikey that she had to see if it was actually soft or if it would stab her hand. Her smile was the same as if she were skipping along beside me in the palace, but her laugh was weak, like she couldn't get enough air to do it convincingly. _

_ "Atemu…" Mana whispered, getting me to lean closer to her. "I… I l-love… you…" Her final breath came out in one last laugh; a laugh that sounded like she was going to a party instead of the Afterlife. A laugh that sounded like she had gotten something she needed, and wanted to say for a long time, out and she was finally free from it._

_ She was gone. My best friend, the only one who'd ever understood me for who I was… the only woman I'd ever loved. For the moment, I let grief and rage control me, and I stood once more to face Bakura…_

It shouldn't have ended like that. Not with Mana's life. So many dead, and that's the only one I can think of. It doesn't matter that Bakura's gone; the feeling of loss doesn't go away. She's still gone, and I'll never hear her say my name, watch her run away from the victim of one of her many pranks… never hear her laugh again.

If I had one more chance, if I had one more hour, I wouldn't let her laugh alone. If I could only hear her laugh one more time, I'd laugh with her… because she would be back with me… if only I could have that one last laugh…

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><p>MBP: …Yeah, don't ask. It was literally in my head and wouldn't go away. And no, I don't know why I wrote first person… I don't like it generally, and I probably will never do it again. Atemu's kind of a pain, and I don't like it. If this were Mana, I'd be jumping for joy.<p>

Rini: Um… should I tell them?

Kio: Probably…

Rini: Okay, so like MBP said earlier, this is going to be a series of one-shots dedicated to 'one more'… like what could have happened if they had one more, or that they want one more of something… stuff like that. But they all have something to do with tragedy or romance, so expect them not to end up together in most of them…

MBP: Though this is only going to be 5-10 chapters, so it shouldn't be too bad… right?

Kio: Anoo… we hope you enjoyed…

Rini: Right! And we hope you review! Reviews are life!

Kio: Jaa nee!


	2. Chapter 2

MBP: I had no idea what to do with this whole One More thing… but then I had an idea after all this time and had to do it. Don't ask me why. The Writing Muses are not cooperating with me. Even my handy idea-giving voices have abandoned me and have only been supplying me with Chuck-E-Cheese horror stories.

Rini: Hey! I'm giving you High School Musical ideas!

MBP: It took a HSM movie night (we watched the 1st and 3rd) and me reading the fanfiction (Kelsi and Ryan do not have enough screen time together) to get that…

Rini: …So?

MBP: …I own nothing. Please enjoy!

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><p><em><strong>One More Game<strong>_

Mana had always known that they'd have to grow up. It was inevitable; the passing of time didn't stop for anyone. It certainly didn't stop just to fulfill the wish of an overly optimistic, hyperactive dreamer of a child. Still, there was something so sad about it.

She didn't have any other word for it. It wasn't truly a depressing idea; she'd long accepted that the world took what you cared about, so she lived in the moment as much as possible. Melancholy was too dramatic of a word for what she was feeling.

Maybe nostalgic was a better idea of what would fit. Thinking back on how happy they had been… but that time was gone. All the games, all the laughs, the innocence… made way for palace intrigue, propriety, betrayals and loss…

Perhaps it was because Mahado was gone now. Having him around was like having a family again. Too often, people assumed she'd made him into a father figure in her mind, but he had never been anything more than a brother. He was the one in which she confided how much she missed her carefree days with Atemu, how much she missed how it was.

Mahado was also the one who helped her think of those days without the sense of wanting to go back, the one who had taught her to make her memories a source of strength, not something to rely on. Without him…

Mana sighed, lying back on the roof to connect the stars with her eyes. What she wouldn't give, just to go back… To go back and know that it was the last time. Maybe she wouldn't have taken it for granted. Maybe she would have appreciated the time all the boys, _her boys_, had been by her side.

Only one of them was there anymore. Seto had long left them, even if he was still in the palace. He had preferred the company and lessons of the priests from a young age.

Mahado was gone now, dead in an attempt to stop Bakura.

And Atemu… the last one. The only one left.

Mana felt the tears growing in her eyes and wiped them away fiercely. She didn't cry. She couldn't cry, not again. They were relying on her to keep strong now, all of them. She had to be by Atemu's side, help him…

Like in their games, where she would always demand to be on his side, help him win whatever game they were playing. Sometimes she was a powerful mage, sometimes a sneaky thief, sometimes…

Life was just a game. Maybe that was the answer Mana had been looking for. Maybe this was just another game to play, one with deadly stakes and deadlier consequences. If she was smart enough, determined enough, she could win.

And it would be her last game. She'd play one more game… and she wouldn't lose.

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><p>MBP: Not… what I'd pictured. Oh well. Brave is on my tv, I'm hungry, spent hours in a rat suit, and I had an idea. I wasn't going to fight with it if it wanted to go this way. Anyways, I want food, so I'll leave it at that! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

MBP: Okay, so we're ignoring the canon where... well, you know. Atemu dies and makes it way too easy for tragedy. Plus, I couldn't think of something else with him or Mana dead without forcing it out and that version kinda... well, sucked. So, here we go!

Rini: I hate this story.

MBP: You hate tragedies period, so shush. I own nothing! Please read, enjoy, and review!

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><p><em><strong>One More Dance<strong>_

She'd loved it. Dancing with him, even though they were both horrible, no matter how much they practiced or how many masters tried to teach them. It didn't matter that they stepped on each other's feet, or he'd end up tripping her and making her look bad when she fell.

She'd loved it.

But they didn't dance together anymore. It wasn't _proper_, not with Atemu married off to this _Teana_ woman of all people, and not when Mana was to be married to Seto when the festivities died down.

Mana hated being proper. She hated how being proper meant that she could only be Atemu's Priestess, not his friend. She hated how being proper meant they had to marry people they didn't love for political reasons. She hated how being proper meant that nothing was ever going to be the same, especially since she found herself actually _liking_ her new Queen.

Mahado might have argued that they could still dance together, that it wasn't improper for the two childhood friends to do that. Maybe others would agree. But neither of them could.

How could you handle being so close to someone you loved but not be able to hold onto them? How could you stay sane, feeling the one you loved _more than life itself_ in your arms, knowing they couldn't be yours?

Everything… it was all changed now. And while everything changed, Mana lost the things –the people- she loved (_Mahado, Atemu, my life…_) one at a time.

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

Two years later, when the new Queen had died giving birth –not to the heir everyone hoped for- but a little girl, the Pharaoh named it after another woman who'd died the year fighting yet another enemy… named it after the woman he should have married.

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><p>MBP: Okay, not as sad as I'd hoped, but... hope you enjoyed anyways! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!<p> 


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